Dar es Salaam — African leaders and policymakers have vowed to take the G20 group of leaders head-on with their grievances on outstanding promises and their responsibility for the global economic recession when they convene in London next month.

Speaking at the closing session of the IMF conference on Africa here last week themed "Changes: Successful Partnerships for Africa's Growth Challenge", South Africa's finance minister, Trevor Manuel, said he was going to send a clear message to the other G20 leaders about how the global crisis, which was triggered by the credit crunch in the US, is about to cause severe damage to African economies.

Manuel, whose country is the only African state in the G20 group, said "when we meet in London next month, I am not going to be humble to the G20. They need to understand that Africa knows what is wrong, how it came about, and that we want it corrected. The IMF must also convey this message to them on behalf of Africa if our relations are to remain good.

"The Fund also needs to be reformed to prevent a situation where we go back to nationalism and protectionism. I am also going to (ask) for us the developing countries and emerging markets to be given a greater voice in the governance of the IMF".

Protectionism is already sprouting in some developed countries where ailing banks are being bailed out by governments on condition that they do not lend out to markets outside their countries.

Leaders from the world's 20 most advanced economies will meet in London on April 2 to look for ways of pulling out of the economic and financial crises. At the Dar-es-Salaam conference, it was agreed that Western countries must be prevailed upon to honour their aid pledges as the situation in Africa turns desperate with countries watching their traditional export markets disappear and access to credit and investment finance dry up.

Due to the global economic crisis, the IMF now predicts the world economy to shrink by over 0.5 percent this year while sub-Sahara will see its decade-long growth rates decline to 3 percent this year.

Poorer countries, which could become the worst casualties of the crisis, also face the possibility of reduced aid flows because Western donors face budget pressures of their own.

In his closing remarks, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said developed countries should honour their promise on development aid to vulnerable African nations against the backdrop of a World Bank prediction that the global economic crisis will pull 46 million people back into absolute poverty.

Kikwete promised to deliver the message to the G20 consultative meeting that began in London yesterday. President Ian Khama is also attending the consultative meeting this week alongside leaders from Liberia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Although Kikwete spoke in restrained tones, the Managing Director of the World Bank, Ngozi Okongo-Iweala, was rather combative and insisted that the international community must fulfil its express promise to increase aid flows significantly.

"We should not feel ashamed to ask for development aid from the developed world," the former Nigerian finance minister said. "They owe it to us. Africa developed Europe and America with our resources that they plundered. Because of the crisis, we don't want them to shy away from us. Instead, we want this to be seen as an opportunity to invest in Africa."

Although most leaders who addressed the conference emphasised the need for the developed world to bail Africa out of the crisis, chances that the G20 meeting will provide concrete aid plans for Africa are very slim, judging by the empty promises that have already been made in the past.

At the G8 Gleneagles Summit in 2005, there was a commitment to more than double ODA to Africa by 2010 worth about $65 billion in nominal 2007 terms, an amount which was attainable considering the trillions of dollars committed in stimulus packages in industrialised countries.

In his opening remarks to the IMF conference last Tuesday, former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan had questioned the political will of the West to help poor countries.

"Industrialised countries have found incredibly large sums of money at short notice to bail out their firms and economies," Annan said. "Trillions of dollars have been committed in the last few months for bailout and stimulus packages.

"This compares with a total of $100 billion a year in development aid, and yet more than that has been spent on rescuing one US company. This undermines the credibility of the claim that relatively modest sums cannot be found to support the fight against global poverty. The real issue is political will."

Apart from the urgent call on the G20 to address the economic crisis, the African finance ministers and central bank governors that met here also agreed that African nations must continue to strengthen their economic policies and ensure good governance, which cannot be sacrificed in this time of crisis.

They also agreed that the IMF must increase its support for Africa with more financing, greater flexibility, enhanced policy dialogue and further strengthening of Africa's voice in the Fund.

"Global solidarity is essential if we are to meet the severe challenges facing Africa and the world. Africa must be part of the solution to the global economic crisis, and Africa must be fully represented in the evolving global architecture," read a joint statement by the delegates at the end of the conference.

Botswana was represented at the Conference by central bank governor Linah Mohohlo and Secretary for Economic and Financial policy, in the Ministry of Finance, Dr Taufila Nyamadzabo